Pochettino laments Toon touchline melee

Mauricio Pochettino felt the off-field scuffle that marred the end of Southampton's 1-1 draw at Newcastle United was "not good for football".

Published

14 December 2013

A melee erupted on the touchline in the dying moments of Saturday's match at St James' Park, apparently sparked by Morgan Schneiderlin's tackle on Massadio Haidara.

The goalkeeping coach from each club was sent off by referee Mike Jones, who had been the recipient of an accidental punch from Moussa Sissoko a few minutes earlier, and Pochettino was disappointed by the scenes.

"I think what happened at the end of the game was not a good example, it's not good for football," he said after seeing Jay Rodriguez's second-half strike earn Southampton's first point at Newcastle since 2001.

"From our point of view, we're going to try our best for it not to happen again because it's not good for anyone, not good for the sport.

"I think it's avoidable, but in a high-intensity game such as that, any little spark can lead to something else. I think that's what happened."

On the challenge that appeared to cause the row, the Argentinian added: "This is football, these things happen. This is English football, perhaps in other leagues it might be an issue, but I see that as something normal in this league.

"It's an aggressive game, there's a lot of energy and intensity, so these things happen."

Rodriguez's 65th-minute goal, his seventh of the season in all competitions, cancelled out Yoan Gouffran's first-half opener and Pochettino saw the result as a fair reflection of the contest.

"I think in the overall analysis of the game, a draw is a fair result," he said.

"Perhaps we could have even got a bit more. I think both halves were different – in the first half it was open, both teams were creating chances. In the second half, Southampton completely dominated the game and could have gone on to win.